The People Power Party raised allegations on October 19 that Democratic Party lawmaker Han Jun-ho manipulated and distorted a response related to the "KBS press pressure allegations" he disclosed. They demanded that Han be excluded from the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee audit.
The Media Committee and the Special Committee on Press Freedom of the People Power Party held a press conference at the National Assembly that morning, stating, "Evidence of manipulation and distortion by Democratic Party Secretary Han Jun-ho was revealed during the audit process involving lawmaker Seo Cheon-ho of the People Power Party."
Media Committee Chair Lee Jin-sook and Special Committee on Press Freedom Chair Kim Jang-gyeom criticized the contents of the 'KBS response' released by Han.
They pointed out, "The most critical part, which states, 'It was confirmed that there was a phone call from the aides of the committee member to KBS reporters,' is missing. If KBS did not omit this phrase in its submission, then Han intentionally deleted the unfavorable part before making it public."
They also claimed that Han's assertion that KBS officially confirmed, "The report was based on our own investigation and editorial judgment, and there were no requests for corrections, deletions, or cessation of follow-up reports," was a distortion of facts, as this content was not present in the original KBS response.
They continued, "When Seo pointed out these issues, Han changed the order of questioning and personally questioned KBS, leading to an unprecedented conflict of interest where the accused party is questioning the victim during an ongoing investigation."
After the press conference, Kim told reporters, "We submitted the exclusion proposal against Han. The full committee must decide whether to present the exclusion proposal as an agenda item and proceed to a vote, but the audit was suspended and adjourned."
Lee criticized Science and Technology Committee Chair Song Gi-hun, stating, "The chair should have made a neutral judgment and presented the exclusion proposal, but he acted as a Democratic Party member. He is unfit to be the committee chair."
He urged Han to apologize for his false explanations and conflicts of interest and to resign from his position as a lawmaker.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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